Anyone ever claimed back customs charges from USA?

[Threaders]

Bit bummed out I got this from the states on bmxmuseum and seller said he was happy to mrk it gift and state value at £30

Turns out he got his girlfreind to do it and right now its sat at the local depot with a £70 customs fee on it. To be fair, I have had three frame sets, sent to me from th US, so to be caught on only one isnt too bad. I definatly wont do it again though. Apparantly US sellers can get into alot of trouble if theye are ever caught, so maybe getting them to mark it gift and low value is a big ask.
Anyway, Has anyone ever tried to claim there money back from customs?? I dont know what he has put on the label, but I am due to pay a handling charge, import duty and vat all coming to £73.56. I am sure there is one of the three, I can claim back. Ill give them a ring tomorrow after I have picked up the bike.
Paid £200 for the bike and postage so an extra fee of £73 isnt the end of the world is it Cheer me up someone

[pickle]

Nope, personally if i were buying anything big from the states i just factor in the customs cost......cos if they mark it as gift and it goes 'missing' then you're fooked! 

pay it and get your frame 

i had to pay £80 for the last one i bought from the states

[CD17]

I found out over the weekend that the Germany do not pay import duty when shipping from the US 

& we don't pay import duty when shipping from Europe 

Might be worth thinking about for any expensive items 

[Threaders]

The way I used to get round the gift thing, was to pay via paypal goods and then if anything goes wrong, I could file a claim through paypal stating goods never arrived or not as described Never had to take those measures before. I am sure there is something I can claim back depending on what he put on the shipping form. Ill keep you posted.
Dont know how you would go about directing your parcel through the EU, sounds complicated:) I know you dont have to pay import or duty on items over 100 years old and I think I read that you dont have to pay customs on something you are sending to another country to have work done, so long as the work doesent change the character of the item. There is a guy on the bmxmuseum, who sends all his frames over here to get painted, so that must be what he is putting on his customs declaration

[Rodgy1970]

If they are straight up and say no can do on marking gift I can live with that.

Gets on my tits when they say they will do it and then don't, a seller did that on me, asked him to mark it gift, he agreed, I paid, then he didn't bother and I got stung.

Only difference is you got a shaggy dog story about it being a felony and they might end up incarcerated and all that shit they go on about on la la land which is the bmxmuseum.

The real reason they do it or should do it is because of the insurance situation which I can understand and if they mark it gift and then insure it for what you actually paid you get stung also.

[Threaders]

I got a nasty email of the seller after he first shipped it, saying that it cost him an extra $35 dollars to ship it and was moaning about how he was out of pocket and will never ship outside the US again. I paid the price he gave me
I sent him one back saying ill happily pay the extra $35 when the bike arrives, but now I dont think ill bother. Ill see what he puts on the customs form, he agreed to mark it gift and put the value at £30 so if he has, I might be able to put in a claim, but customs have said they will ask for the original reciept from paypal, which will show that I paid $325 for it so I am shafted from all angles
On the up side, He did say he was going to include a load a extra GT bits in with the frame such as bars, pedals and crank ect, so I will see whats in the box tomorrow

[Rodgy1970]

they normally add the whole amount to ship to the uk, so a frame that is $200 shipped to us 48 becomes $275, i stopped buying off the museum because of the hassle, there are some really decent fellas on it but there are a lot of knobs too.

[Robbo]

Take it on the chin and learn from the experience, if his girlfriend has stiffed you then keep the $35.

Looking forward to seeing you build it! 

[Threaders]

Your right mate.
Ill take it on the chin Its not the end of the world and if he has put in some extras, then it will be worth it. Ill post up pics when I get it and will be asking some advice depending on its condition. Thanks fellas

[stuntmaster]

looks nice that gt , keep it original as a usual colour you don`t see much over here

[glenboy]

as said above i'd just leave it and don't bother sending the extra 35 , by trying to put a claim in the seller can say you asked him to say it was a gift and it wasn't which basically means trying to cheat the customs and vat so i'd just leave it you don't need the hassle

[Glynnyboy]

they normally add the whole amount to ship to the uk, so a frame that is $200 shipped to us 48 becomes $275, i stopped buying off the museum because of the hassle, there are some really decent fellas on it but there are a lot of knobs too.

Right there.
It does state on the customs website that the postage price is taken into the £30 equation.
So basically the item really does have to be a gift, ie given to you for nothing and you had better hope that the postage comes to less than £30.

[GTnumber1]

Paid £200 for the bike and postage so an extra fee of £73 isnt the end of the world is it Cheer me up someone

    £200 hope that was complete bike 


import tax is a coont, the amount ive paid recently i could have built a bike    i  buy 95% of my stuff from the u.s so i guess shit happens 

[Threaders]

No. It was $325 for frame forks and bars + some other things he was going to throw in. Its now worked out at £270 all in with charges Still, I saw one go on the bay for £260 for a mint frame and forks only.
Its always the way. I had £200 and there was nothing about on here, so checked out the bmxmuseum, I should have been patient as sooner or later something would have turned up on here

[jT Racing]

Why would you need a receipt for a gift. You won't have bought it so you couldnt have a receipt. This is the usual method with a gift.

[Threaders]

I always pay as goods when getting stuff from the bmx museum, that way your covered with paypal No ones ever minded  
Anyway, its all done now and paid and I picked it up this morning
It turns out he marked the form Merchandise and put in $200 as value, so there was no way I was going to get around that. I guess it could have been worse. I got frame, forks GT post (stamped gt with a circle), GT epoch (White and needs restoring) , odyssey brakes and dia compe levers (need resto) and an odyssey giro set up and some GT bars ( 87 dyno compe I think).
Here is a pick of my metyhod to remove the stuck post


£270 all up I am kind of gutted as I could have spent that at MK12, but when its finished, I am sure it will all be good